Pickles

Fermented and Crispy,  Sliced or Whole

My garden gave me cucumbers this year. Big cucumbers. More than I could use in salads. Bigger than I could pickle whole. I have attempted fermented pickle slices in the past, but they always turn to mush. Eventually I just skipped sliced pickles and made them whole, then I sliced them afterwards if needed.

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Chocolate Calas

I have a bag of beautiful black rice. It has a wonderful buttery flavor and a great texture, not too mushy not too tough. I served it as a side earlier this week and then again with lunch, the only problem with it is that my kids don't eat it. My kids are not terribly picky eaters, but for some reason they only pecked at the rice. I don't like wasting food. My guess is that the color was throwing the kids off, so I needed a way to use it that wouldn't be obvious. Black rice pudding and black fried rice were not really options. However chocolate calas would revive the rice and bring it to a whole new level. Essentially calas are doughnuts or fritter made with leftover rice, usually with vanilla, cinnamon, sugar, eggs and flour. I opted for coconut flour for my version, honey and stevia combination and cocoa powder to embrace the rich color of my black rice.

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